'A man takes a job, and that job ­becomes what he is," said the veteran ­driver Wizard to ­deranged vigilante-in-waiting Travis Bickle in 1976's "Taxi Driver."

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Ronnie Barnhardt, the obsessed-with-justice mall cop antihero of "Observe and Report," may have taken Wizard's advice too literally. But it's for the best because as this funny, violent and refreshingly offbeat dark comedy goes on, it is, as Travis might say, a rain that washes most generic Hollywood laughs off the screen.

This isn't "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," and it's not the movie the ads make it out to be (even the title is too bland).

There is an addictive, at times vicious eccentricity at work here, and it begins with Seth Rogen.

He brings to Ronnie something that always seems to lurk unacknowledged in his performances, even the "lovable" ones like that in "Knocked Up": the creepy overeagerness of a guy whose quick smile and hyperverbal delivery may mean he's off his meds.

Ronnie is definitely that — when he stops taking pills for unexplained ills, he makes even more finger rifles and "Boom!" noises at shoppers — as well as socially awkward, aggressive, lonely and unpredictable.

To his mind, though, a few of those traits may be his secret weapon in nabbing a flasher who's targeting the innocent women of Forest Ridge Mall.

When the latest victim is Brandi (Anna Faris), the drinkin' ditz Ronnie loves from across her cosmetics counter, the big guy's delusional sense of heroism is heightened even more, despite being recently rejected by the police department due to past "issues." Plus, the local detective (Ray ­Liotta) insists this is no job for a rent-a-cop.

In a film full of oddballs, these three get the most attention.

Yet that shouldn't stop us from appreciating the born-again virgin working in the food court (Collette Wolfe), Ronnie's happily alcoholic mother (Celia Weston) or his partner Dennis, played by Michael Peña in an exquisitely weird performance that grows on you.

Writer-director Jody Hill loads the soundtrack with quirky musical choices and doesn't renege on the film's promise. ("Taxi Driver" was, in fact, an inspiration, and there's a bit of early Coen brothers here as well.)

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This is real love-it-or-hate-it territory, what with the movie's gun love, naked cruelty and damaged psyches.

It also contains Rogen's best work, and another engaging turn from Faris, always willing to be extreme for a laugh (the two share a shocking scene that will surely be the year's most offensive date moment).

While it stops before sliding too far into the darkness, "Observe and Report" hits a lot of bull's-eyes by aiming for the gut, not, thankfully, the familiar belly laugh.